FAMOUS GREENE COUNTY RESIDENTS

POLITICIANS WHO WERE BORN IN GREENE CO:

Hays, Charles (1834-1879) Born near Boligee, Ala., February 2, 1834. Major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War; delegate to Alabama state constitutional convention, 1867; member of Alabama state senate, 1868; U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1869-77. Died June 24, 1879. Interment in private or family graveyard.

Oliver, William Bacon (1867-1948) Cousin of Sydney Parham Epes. Born in Eutaw, Ala. U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1915-37. Interment at Eutaw Cemetery, Eutaw, Ala.

deGraffenried, Edward (1899-1974) Born in Eutaw, Ala., June 30, 1899. U.S. Representative from Alabama, 1949-53. Died November 5, 1974. Interment at Evergreen Cemetery, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Kavanaugh, William Marmaduke (1866-1915) Born near Eutaw, Ala., March 3, 1866. State court judge, 1900; U.S. Senator from Arkansas, 1913. Died February 21, 1915. Interment at Oakland Cemetery, Little Rock, Ark.

POLITICIANS WHO DIED IN GREENE CO:

Distinguished Men of Greene Co:

William Henry Fowler was born in NC and came to Tuscaloosa with his parents in 1826 then moved to Greene Co. He worked in many jobs before becoming a lawyer in 1849. He became editor of the Eutaw Whig until he became a Representative in 1855. Then he edited the Tuscaloosa Minitor before entering the CSA as Captain in the 5th AL Inf. He was killed in Jefferson, Texas in 1867. He married the daughter of the Hon. John M. Bates, the 1st Sheriff of Greene Co.

Richard Freer Inge was born in Greene Co, the son of Dr. Richard Inge (brother of the Hon. William M. Inge of Sumter Co.) and Miss Brownlow. He practiced Law in Forkland and in Eutaw. He was A representative in the State Legislature in 1853 and ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 1857.He was a Captain in the CSA in the 11th AL and was promoted to Lt. Col. He died 23 Sep 1863 of wounds in the battle of Chicamauga. He married Miss. Brown of Greene Co. and had three sons.

Stephen Fowler Hale was born in Crittenden Co, KY 31 Jan 1816, son of a Baptist Minister from SC and Miss Mannahan of SC. He graduated from Cumberland University and came to Greene Co. in 1837 to teach school. He became a lawyer about 1839 and practiced in Eutaw until 1843, when he was elected to the Legislature. During the War, he represented his district in the provisional congress of the CSA and then served as a Lt Col in the 11th AL. He was fatally wounded at Gaines’ Mill and died at Richmond 18 Jul 19862. He is buried in Eutaw. Hale Co, AL was named in his memory. He married a sister of Mr. F. M. Kirsey, once the Sheriff of Greene Co. and had a son who was a lawyer in Greene Co. and a daughter who married Capt. E. B. Vaughn of Sumter Co.

Patrick May was from Anson Co, NC and came to Clarke Co, AL before coming with the first settlers to Greene Co. He was a General in the Militia and the first Senator. He died in Greene Co. in 1868, age 78.

Solomon McAlpine was an early settler born in 1800 in GA. He was a lawyer and in the Legislature from 1837 to 1847. He died in Mobile in 1861 and is buried in Eutaw.

Henry Minor was born in Spottsylvania Co, VA in 1786 and became a lawyer. He came to Huntsville in 1819 and was the Reporter for the State Supreme Court until 1823, when he became a Justice for 2 years. Then he was the Court Clerk until his death in 1838. He resided in Greene Co. from 1826. His wife was the sister of the Hon. John S. Barbour of VA.

Sydenham Moore was born in 1817, a son of Dr. Alfred Moore of Madison Co, AL and Miss Jones, sister of the Hon. John Edmund Jones (State Senator from Sumter Co. and later city court judge in Mobile.) His uncle was the Hon. David Moore. Sydenham served in Capt. Otey’s Company in the 1838 Cherokee Indian War and moved to Eutaw in 1839 and practiced Law. He became a county Judge in 1840 until 1846, when he resigned to lead a company in the war with Mexico. He was re-appointed as a judge in 1847 and served until 1850. He was a Circuit Court Judge in 1857 when elected to the US Congress where he served until the war. He was elected Colonel of the 11th AL Infantry and fatally wounded at Seven Pines. He married the sister of Col. Hobson of Greene Co (who lead the 5th AL Infantry) and fathered several sons and daughters.

William Mitchell Murphy was born in Granville Co, NC in 1806 and was the son of Judge Murphy who came to Erie in 1821. His mother was the sister of Hon. William M. Inge of Sumter Co. He was educated at the University of VA and became a notable lawyer. He was a Representative in the Legislature and in the Senate. He died in Selma in 1855.

John C. Calhoun Sanders was born 4 Apr 1840 in Tuscaloosa, the son of Dr. Sanders of Charleston, SC and the daughter of Dr. Mathew Thompson of Anderson District, SC. He left the State University in 1861 to join the CSA and was elected Captain of a Company in the 11th AL. He was injured at Frazier’s Farm and again at Sharpsburg. He was promoted to Colonel and was wounded at Gettysburg. He was made Brigadier General in 1864 and the 8th, 9th, 10th , 11th & 14th AL Regiments until he was killed on 21 Aug 1864 in VA.

Joseph Walters Taylor was born 12 Jul 1820 in Burksville, Cumberland Co, KY. His father, a lawyer, and mother, Miss Stockton, were both from VA. He graduated from Cumberland College in 1838 and moved to Greene Co. where he taught for 2 years before becoming a lawyer. In 1855 he was elected to the Senate He was a newspaper editor in Eutaw and then in Tuscaloosa. He married a daughter of the Hon. Solomon McAlpine.

Harry Innes Thornton was born in 1797 in Fredericksburg, VA, a descendant of one of the early colonists. His maternal grandfather was Judge Harry Innes of Frankfort, KY, where Harry practiced law before coming to Huntsville, AL in 1823. He was a Federal District Attorney and a State Supreme Court Justice. In 1836 he came to Greene Co. and served in the State Senate starting in 1837. He practiced law in Eutaw until 1849, when he was appointed Commissioner of Lands in CA. He died in San Francisco in 1862. He married the sister of the Hon. John J. Crittenden of KY. A son fought in the CSA, 58th AL Rgt, commanding it at Jonesboro.

James Innes Thornton, brother of Harry, was born in Fredericksburg, VA in 1801 and came to Huntsville, AL in 1821, where he practiced law. In 1824, he was elected Secretary of State. He retired 10 years later to live in Greene Co. His first wife was Miss Glover of Marengo, Co. A daughter married Capt. John McKee Gould of Greene Co.

Dr. Henry Tutwiler,  arrived in Greene/Hale County in 1846 to set up his school near Havana which opened in 1847. He had been on the first faculty at the University of Alabama in 1831, having graduated from Univ. of Virginia with the first Master's Degree from that institution. He married Julia Ashe, granddaughter of Samuel Ashe, governor of North Carolina.

Dr.  Elisha Young performed the first operation to sew up the severed carotid artery. Dr. Elisha Young and his wife, Anne Eliza Ashe Tutwiler Young (daughter of Dr. Henry Tutwiler and sister of Julia Tutwiler), lived in "The Pillbox" near Newbern (in what was then Greene County) after their marriage right before the War between the States. Dr. Young was the surgeon at the Battle of Mobile Bay and was captured and imprisoned in New Orleans. On his release, he returned to Greensboro where he bought the house next door to the Ott House on Centerville street. He added a wing for a dining room and another for his doctor's offices.

State Senators from Greene Co:

State Representatives from Greene Co: